Students tested for TB after confirmed case in Troy

Students considered at risk of exposure are currently being tested for tuberculosis in the wake of a confirmed case at Troy High School.

Kathy Forzley, manager and health officer of the Oakland County Health Division, said that the Troy High School student who tested positive for tuberculosis earlier this month is the only confirmed case so far in the ongoing investigation.

“It’s important to realize this investigation will go on for several weeks,” Forzley said. “There will be two screenings going on over time before we’ll have any conclusive results.”

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Following the positive test result, the Oakland County Health Division in partnership with Troy Public Schools identified an undisclosed number of students considered to be at risk of exposure to tuberculosis. Those selected are currently undergoing testing to determine whether or not they are infected. The last round of testing should be completed in the first part of June, Forzley said.

Tuberculosis is a treatable disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that typically attacks the lungs but can also affect any other part of the body. While contagious, the disease can only be spread through close exposure to droplets expelled while sneezing or coughing.

The disease is treated through taking a regimen of several anti-bacterial drugs including isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide for six to nine months with a four- to seven-month follow-up continuation treatment.

Though the risk of exposure to tuberculosis is generally minuscule in the U.S., the disease is still relatively common in other parts of the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that nearly 9 million people around the world became sick with tuberculosis while another 1.4 million died as a result of the disease in 2011. A total of 10,528 tuberculosis cases were reported in the U.S. that same year. The CDC’s latest data for tuberculosis-related deaths in the U.S. report 529 fatal instances out of 11,528 total cases in 2009, or about a 4.6 percent mortality rate for that year.

“There are many countries in the world that have much higher rates of tuberculosis than we do in the United States,” she said, “so anyone who travels or spends a considerable amount of time in other countries may have had some exposure in their past.”

The reaction to this single reported case of tuberculosis is typical in a nation that takes the affliction very seriously, Forzley added.

“We do a tremendous amount of testing each and every year to ensure that we don’t have tuberculosis in our population,” she said. “And when a case of tuberculosis is found, we work very diligently to do a case investigation to ensure that it has not been spread to others who may be close to that case.”

There’s a number of different symptoms that depend on an active infection’s location, including coughing up blood or sputum, fatigue, weight loss, pain in the chest and night sweats, but Forzley said that the best thing to do in the event of suspected exposure to tuberculosis is to call the Health Division’s nurse on call to gain some clarity on the disease’s symptoms and contagiousness.

“Sometimes people believe that they have had an exposure,” Forzley said, “and when they talk to our nurse on call who educates them on how tuberculosis is transferred and gives them more information, they’re reassured that they have not had exposure.”

The Oakland County Health Division’s nurse on call is available to answer questions at 248-858-1406 or toll free at 800-848-5533.

Contact Andrew Kidd at 248-745-4630 or andrew.kidd@oakpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @andrewjkidd.